


Stray Dog

by antonomasia09



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Altered Carbon Fusion, Angst and Feels, Canon-Typical Violence, First Meetings, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-19 21:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17009217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antonomasia09/pseuds/antonomasia09
Summary: How Arkady joined Sana's cause after the war.





	Stray Dog

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this vignette](https://iriscasefiles.tumblr.com/post/172274228820/vignette-4-reunion), and That Scene On The Bridge from Altered Carbon.

Arkady woke up. That was a surprise.

What wasn’t a surprise was the blood trickling down the side of her neck, or the fact that her hands were tied to a post in the middle of a cave, or the half-dozen people pointing weapons at her.

Arkady got to her knees, awkward without the use of her hands, but didn’t try to stand. 

A woman stepped in front of the guns and approached, halting a good couple of feet away from Arkady, too far to be able to kick or grab. The lighting was bad in the cave, letting Arkady see just a hint of patched overalls and sparkling eyes. The same eyes that had haunted Arkady for years, ever since Sana Tripathi had instigated the uprising on Cresswin Landing that turned Arkady’s life upside down. “I know who you are,” Arkady said, and Sana tilted her head.

“I’m not surprised,” she answered, her voice warm and amused. “My reputation precedes me. I know who you are as well, Arkady Patel. Your face is all over the wanted beacons. The bounty’s a fortune.”

“Too bad you can’t claim it without getting caught yourself,” Arkady said. 

“I would never dream of trying.” Sana crossed her arms. “Rumor has it you took out your entire squad in the process of defecting.”

Arkady swallowed. The angry villagers who didn’t want to pay their exorbitant taxes had done most of the actual killing. She just…hadn’t tried to stop them. Not after seeing a little girl crying over her brother’s body after an accidental panicked weapons discharge from the soldier to Arkady’s left, and remembering what her own brother had looked like after the guards shot him by mistake. “Rumor exaggerates,” she said.

“Still intriguing,” said Sana. “Not to mention the knowledge you must have of troop movements and tactics.”

So this was a job offer? Arkady shook her head. “Not interested.”

The light wasn’t good enough to let Arkady see Sana raise her eyebrow, but she could sense skepticism pouring off her in waves. “You’re not in a great position right now,” Sana pointed out. “And you’re low on allies.”

Arkady shrugged. “I won’t join you, so either you’re going to kill me or you’re going to let me go,” she said. “Don’t care much either way.”

“Not even if I could offer you revenge against the regime that sent you out over and over again to die?” Seeing Arkady’s hesitation, she continued, “We’re on the same side. The enemy of my enemy…”

“Is just one more person who might knife me in my back,” Arkady finished. She rolled her eyes. “Spare me the platitudes. I’d rather you just killed me.”

Sana reached into her belt and pulled out a knife, and Arkady tensed but forced herself to stay still. If she could catch the knife, she could turn it back against Sana. No way to make it out of here alive, not with all those guns still pointed at her, but she thought she could take out at least one or two before she fell.

But Sana just sliced through the rope binding Arkady’s hands to the post, then re-sheathed her knife. Arkady let her arms drop, and considered her options.

“If I told the IGR where to find you, they would take me back in an instant.”

Sana stepped closer, enough that Arkady could reach out and grab the knife, could put Sana in a headlock before anyone could react. “Do you want to go back?” Sana asked.

Yes. No. Arkady didn’t know. All she could bring herself to do was stare at Sana, who continued to speak. “I spent a lot of time on Cresswin Landing,” she said. “There was a girl there, with scraped knees and sparkly barrettes in her hair. She asked me once if I would teach her how to shoot a gun, and I told her there were plenty of other ways to support the revolution, because I couldn’t stand the idea of her getting blood on those barrettes.”

“You remember me?” Arkady whispered. All these years, she’d never thought… no. She pulled herself together. “I learned how to shoot anyway,” she said, voice full of venom and aiming to wound. “I’ve killed; I’ve gotten blood in my hair, and matted it so badly I had to cut it off. I’m not that girl anymore.”

“You are,” Sana insisted. “You can be.”

“You’ve already admitted that you want me to fight for you,” Arkady said. “How would that be any better than what I’ve been doing?”

“I would never ask you to butcher women and children who can’t afford to feed themselves let alone pay taxes to the government,” Sana promised. “I would never send you out as canon fodder.”

“Why not? I’m not one of your people. I’m dangerous.”

“You’re a Lander,” Sana said firmly. “You’ve always been one of mine.”

Arkady sagged on her knees. One of Sana’s people, always. Even when she had lied about her age to join the army and get off that miserable starving rock; even when she had killed someone for the first time and cried herself to sleep that night in the barracks, silent so no one would shut her up.

Arkady took a deep breath, and dared to let herself hope. “Okay,” she said.


End file.
